Devices for the transmission of movements



March l, 1960 M. c. Pn-:TERSE 2,926,537

DEVICES FOR THE TRANSMISSION oF MOVEMENTS original Filed sept. 13, 1954 MARIUS C. PTERsf-z,

INVENTOR.

States arent `Original application' September 13,

455,648, now Patent No. 1959. Divided and this Serial No. 787,239

s claims. (cin-:216m

This invention relates to a device for the' transmission of movement, comprising' a stationary guide tubehaving a series'of pushing members fitting movably in 'said guide ,-ti'ibe, said tube having a curved section comprising circular rolling bodies, either balls or rollers.

It is an object of this invention to reduce friction 'during the transmission of movement in such a device to a minimum. i

It is a further object of this invention to-obtain a device of the above indicated kind, which operates rel-iably and whichgives the least rise to inaccuracies owing to clearances during the transmission of movement.

It is a further object of this invention to obtain a device of the above given kind, which is' of'siinple structure and with-parts which are easy'to manufacture.

This invention will now be described on the basis' of 'theaccompanying drawings, which give several possible Aembodiments of devices according to the present invention. 1 v Figure l shows in side view and partly' in section a a device 'according to aA preferred embodiment-of this invention for the remote control of a member such as a valve for a hydraulic system, for instance for varying the pitch of the propeller blades of a vessel.

Figure 2 shows on a larger scale pait vof the device of Fig. l in section.

Figure 3 shows a part of a curved section of a guide tube for u se in a. device such as given' in Figure 1, but with pushing members in an alternative embodiment, in

a section through the plane of curvature of the guide tube.

a transmitter, comprising a flat disc 1, rotatable about a central axis in a casing 3, of which the inner wall surf rounds and embraces the periphery of thevdisc 1 with Figure 4 shows a section perpendicular to the plane `some clearance concentrically therewith. Anoperating Y "handle 4 is secured to said disc 1 and straddles casing 3 in order to be secured to the central axis' shaft or trunnioris of disc 1. Handle 4 is thus able to rotate the disc 1 in both directions about its axis.

,Handle 4 is automatically fixed in the' neutral position shown in the drawing and in a number of other posione of the side walls of casing 3. By pushing button 8 in handle 4 downwards against the action of spring 9 the connection with two tubes'il, the other ends of which are connected to guide tubes' 1'2 and 13', leading to the remote'r'eceiver 23 and constituting together with cas' in g 3, receiver 23 and tubes l1 a closed circuit with 46() tions .by a pawl 5, able to engage circular detents' 6-in 2,925,537 resented Mar. 11,1969

pushing members in the tube for' the transmisisoii f movement. Couplings 14 connect the sepaiat'e parte of the guide tubes and said tubes may have a .number of Vcurves or bends such as 15.

lnrthe upper half of Vtire-'annular space between disc 1 and 'casing 3 and in the curved parts 15 of the syste'i'i'i circular rolling bodies such as balls 16 are arranged so that they t movably therein. The disc 1 cai-fries tivo rollers 17 in brackets 18, said rollers' beingfre'ely 1rotatable and being arranged symmetrically with' respect to a line through handle 4 ,and the 'centerof disc 1. The pushing members 16 in the' annular spacev between disci and casing 3 could Vbe cylindrical rollers, aiidin the curves 15 of the guide tubes 1 2 and 13 could be balls. The tubes preferably have a circular cross section.

In the joints tu the-.rollers 16 abut against a pushing rod 19, guided for axial movement in the tubes 11 and comprising in each tube an adjusting device 20 for auto,-

-rn'atically compensating clearance in the system. As this compensating device does' not constitute part of the present invention and as 's'u'ch devices are known' per se vit will not be described in detail here. Rod 19 is in pushing contact with a rod 21 and said rod 21 abuts the iirs't of a set of vballs 16 in -the curve 15.

The last ball in each set preferably abiits a rodwhich may be identical to rod 21 engaging the iirst ball. Additional straight and curved ti'ibe sections', couplings, 'sets of balls or rollers, and rods are provided as required to connect the transmitter to the'receiver. The receiver may be substantially identical tothe lt'ransii'iitt'erand may have a circular disc 24 such'vas disc 1 of the transmitter, said disc 24 being connectdfthrough shaft Y'25' vto the member to be controlled,'for 'instance to the mvable part of -a valveof a hydraulic systerii. Cf lcourse it is not possible to use pushing rods such as- 21 in any parts of the guide tubes which are considerably curved such as curves 15 shown in Fig. 1', and this is true both for 90 curves and for curves of a different angle. All the curves as well as the receiver 23 are f illedwith balls' or rollers such as the balls .16 as shown in the drawing.

The receiver 23 as well as the transmitter could easily be embodied ina different manner, for instance so that the guide tubes'iz and 13 at the transmtterad/orth'e receiver end are a greater distance apart and are operated by' or operate upon the opposite ends of a' `lever journalled at' its lcenter in the stationary structure. The' balls and rollers 16 are separated by separating members' 26, shown on a larger scale in' Fig. 2. Said separating menibers are 'constituted by discs with a thickness in' the axial direction of vthe tubes 12, 13 smaller than the' diameter of the balls or rollers'16. Said separating' members 26 have a central bore 27 from one side to the' otlier The members 26 do n'ot have ilat sides, but the sides are spherical in the case of balls. They are made ofav material' giving low friction of the' balls or rollers 'along them. 'The balls or rollers 'could be made of stee as.l

well as the guide tubes, and the discs 2o could be niaii'e of bronze or other material being a good bearing material "for steel and nevertheless having a' good resistance 'against pressure. During the transmission of movement" the'V balls or rollers 1'6' in the curves are urged a'gainst the outer'side of the inner Wall of the particular guide tube' and thus the balls or rollers tend to roll aroundv their point 'f Should the balls or' rollers contact one' another immediately they wouldc'ause seriot-lsefriction and erosion at their points of contact. By using :between the balls and the members 26.

`such'as oil. This oil will also vfill the bores 27 in members 26 and will thus further preventwear and friction It is remarked that 1n Figures l and 2 the members 16 are shown as -balls and that the tubular joint is cylindrical so that it .could not take up rollers iitting therein, but only balls. As stated before, however, rollers could as well be used, particularly in the receiver and transmitter.

Figure 3 shows a bend 15 filled with a number of balls 28 all of substantially the same diameter which is substantially smaller than the inner dimension of the guide tube. In view thereof the balls 28 tend to take positions alternately in contact with the inner and with the outer side of the curve. The'same could be done with a guide tube with other than circular cross section and with rollers instead of the balls 28. Although the balls in such an embodiment are pushed with a rather considerable force against the wall of the guide tube in the bends this does not matter very much in such an embodiment because there is almost perfect rolling, the only sliding action being possibly caused by the fact that the inner curve is somewhat shorter than the outer curve. This could be prevented entirely by making the diameters of the balls on the outside somewhat greater than the diameters of the balls on the inside of the curve. It even is not disadvantageous in such an embodiment if the balls should not all have their centers in the plane containing the axis of the bend 15 but instead in a curved surfaceperpendicular vto the plane of the drawing, so that they do not contact the inner and outer side of the curve but contact points on opposie sides of the plane of the axis of the curve. This even would have the advantage that the balls all have to travel the same distance during the transmission of movement, so that perfect rolling is possible. Figure 3 shows a cage 29, of which the main purpose to make sure that during filling of the curve 15 withballs said balls indeed lie alternately on one and the other side of the axis of the guide tube. If

,no such cage should be present and if the balls were iilled into. the tube without more it could become possible yfor instance that two neighbouring balls contact the same side of the tube and this would spoil the elfectof obtaining almost pure rolling and no sliding. The cage 29 could be made of a thin strip of metal with circular yapertures `for vallowing the balls to contact one another. The apertures indicated have a diameter which is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the balls. During lling the cage is pushed into the tube, the balls being inserted in the spaces to both sides of the zig-zag cage just above the end of the tube, from which end the cage is pushed into the tube.A l

vFigure 4 shows part of a bend or curve consisting of a tube having two circular parts 3i) and 3i1 joining one another in the central part at 32 and 33. The tube receives balls 34 and 35 all of the same diameter alternately on one and on the other side, viz. alternately in part and in part 31. The internal distance between the joints 32. and 33 is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the balls 34 and 35. This ensures that it is never possible for a ball to move from part 30 to part 31 or reverse. This guarantees that all the .balls always have the correct mutual position;

What I claim is:

1. A device for the transmission of movement, comprising 'a stationary guide tube having a series of pushn ing members tting movably in said guide tube, said' tube having a curved section, the pushing members in said curved section comprising circular rolling bodies having substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter or corresponding dimension of the tube, a separating member being arranged between any two adjacent rolling bodies, said member being disc-shaped with a thickness in the axial direction of the tube, smaller than the diameter of the rolling bodies, said separating member having a concave curved surface at both sides, in which concavity the adjacent rolling bodies make contact therewith, a driving member for applying a force along the axis of said tube to the iirst of the pushing members of said series, and a driven member arranged to be moved along the axis of said tube by the last pushing member of-said series, said force being transmitted from any rolling body to the next adjacent rolling body through the separating member between them, said vforce thus establishing rolling contact between the rolling bodies and the outer part of the curve of said section.

2. A device for the transmission of movement, comprising a stationary guide tube having a series of pushing members fitting movably in said guide tube, said tube having a curved section, the pushing members in said curved section comprising circular rolling bodies having substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter or corresponding dimension of the tube, a separating mem- Yber being arranged between any two adjacent rolling bodies, said member being disc-shaped with a thickness in the axial direction of the tube, smaller than the diameter of the rolling bodies, said separating member having a concave curved surface at both sides, in which concavity the adjacent rolling bodies make contact therewith, said separating members having an outer diameter or size smaller than the inner radial dimension of said guide tube such that in operation they do not Contact the wall of the guide tube and are centered by both oppositely adjacent rolling bodies, a driving member for applying a force along the axis of said tube to the iirst of the pushing members of said series, and a driven member arranged to be moved along the axis of said tube by the last pushing lmember of said series, said force being transmitted from any rolling body to the next adjacent rolling body through4 the separating member between them, said force thus establishing rolling contact between the rolling bodies and the outer part of the curve of said section.

3. A device for the transmission of movement, comprising a stationary guide tube having a series of pushing members fitting movably in said guide tube, said tube having a curved section, the pushing members in said curved section comprising circular rolling bodies having `substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter or Aaxial direction of the tube, smaller than the diameter of the rolling bodies, said separating member having a concave curved surface at both sides, in which concavity the adjacent rolling bodies make contact therewith, a smallbore being arranged between the bottoms of both concavities through the separating member, a driving vrnemiber for applying a force along the axis of said tube to the rst of the pushing members of said series, and a driven member arranged to be moved along the axis of said tube by the last pushing member of said series, said force being transmitted from any rolling body to the next adjacent rolling body through the separating member between them, said force thus establishing rolling contact between the rolling bodies and the outer part of the curve of said section.

4. A device for the transmission of movement, comprising a stationary guide tube having a series of pushing members fittingv movably in said guide tube, said tube having a curved section, the pushing members in said curved section comprising circular rolling bodies,said bodies being divided into two `groups with the bodies of one group alternating with the bodies of the other group `along the length of said curved section, means causing the bodies of one group to be in rolling contact with one part of wall of said section but not with the opposite part of the wall and `for causing the bodies of the other group to be in contact with the said opposite part of the curve but not with the said iirst one part,

a driving member for applying a force along the axis of curved section comprising circular rolling bodies, said bodies being divided into two groups with the bodies of one group alternating with the bodies of the other group along the length of said curved section, a zigzag-shaped cage with holes winding between the bodies of both groups and allowing mutual contact between the bodies of both groups through the holes causing the bodies of one group to be in rolling contact with onepartl of wall of said section but not with the opposite part of the wall and for causing the bodies of the other group to be in contact with the said opposite part of the curve but not with the said first one part, a driving member for applying a force along the axis of said tube to the iirst of the pushing members of said series, and a driven member arranged to be moved along the axis of said tube by the last pushing member of said series, the bodies of said one group rotating in one sense and the bodies in said other group rotating in the opposite sense, thereby estabi lishing rolling contact between successive bodies.

6. A device for the transmission of movement, comprising a stationary guide tube having a series of pushing members tting movably in said guide tube, said tube having a curved section, the pushing members in said curved section comprising balls, said balls beingdivided into two groups with the balls of one group alternating with the balls of the other group along the length of said curved section, the interior cross-section of the tube being in its center narrower than at some distance to both sides of said center and narrower than the diameter of the balls of both groups thus allowing mutual contact between the balls of both groups While maintaining the balls of one group to one side of said center and the balls of the other group to the opposite side of said center within the tube, a driving member for applying a force along the axis of said tube to the lirst of the pushing members of said series, and a driven member arranged to be moved along the axis of said tube by the last pushing member of said series, the balls of said one group rotating in one sense and the balls in said other group rotating in the opposite sense, thereby establishing rolling contact between successive balls.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

